by I naturally began with "The Trial" last week, but unfortunately I had not discovered this forum at that point, and so could not report on it. However, it's enough to say that all four of my heroes emerged from the catacombs of Verag alive having slain every foe and looted every room at least once. I actually find "The Trial" to be an unusually challenging quest for the first one. Yes it is indeed a "trial", but is it the right kind of trial for brand new players? The loremasters will debate the matter forever, but I say "no" (not that I think "The Maze" was much better). The last time I saw my mother I vowed that on Christmas Day I shall be taking my new copy of HeroQuest down to her house to play it with her and her husband. But I will not put them through "The Trial"—it would prove far too hard for them. I may actually just created my own, far simpler, Christmas quest for the day.
Anyway, it's currently 9 p.m. here in Scotland on this Saturday, and "Dread's Bane" just successfully completed "The Rescue of Sir Ragnar". You know, one of the joys of playing this new HeroQuest is that it has been such a long time since I played these default quests that I have forgotten almost everything about them, so it's like playing them again for the very first time. This feeling is only enhanced by the fact that this is my first time using the North American ruleset. However, for whatever reason, I remembered exactly where Sir Ragnar was located, and that an alarm was triggered when one of the heroes discovered him. I therefore determined that by the time we found Sir Ragnar, none of Zargon's minions would be alive to respond to the alarm. In my opinion, the only sane thing to do when playing "The Trial" is to keep your party together, but I feel that you will probably get away with splitting up in "The Rescue of Sir Ragnar", and so that's exactly what Dread's Bane did. However, Thorgal the Dwarf had generated some ill feeling after last week's adventure, because he had found a significant amount of gold in Verag's chamber and yet, rather than sharing it with his companions, had put it towards buying himself a new helmet instead. Therefore, the other members of Dread's Bane insisted that since Thorgal had selfishly bestowed himself with greater protection, he should be the one to venture into the area of this new dungeon that was likely the most dangerous.
Caledor the wizard can often feel quite useless compared to his companions, because while his contributions to their efforts are usually essential, they are rare, whereas the others—especially the barbarian and the dwarf—are routinely cutting down the minions of Zargon. This can often lead to Caledor putting himself at unnecessary risk, such as when, on this occasion, he strayed from the party and ended up encountering a goblin in a darkened hallway, a goblin that then proceeded to savagely wound Caledor, who was ultimately forced to burn the impish creature to cinders with his "Fire of Wrath" spell. Then, as if having learned nothing from the experience, he would later go on to do that which his companions had repeatedly told him was too risky—he attempted to search for treasure in a chamber alone. Predictably, an orc ambushed him as he did so and nearly killed him outright. Caledor fled for his life and Thorgal the Dwarf had to run to engage the orc lest it pursue him, this despite the fact that Thorgal was already engaged with both an orc and a goblin. As a form of wizardly thanks, Caledor cast "Rock Skin" on Thorgal, giving him even more protection from foes than his shiny new helmet already provided. Thankfully, Caledor seemed to learn from that nearly fatal mistake of his and, having regenerated himself with his "Heal Body" spell, spent the rest of the adventure pacing the cleared dungeon corridors in shame at his own hubris.
Asha the elf, meanwhile, had ventured alone to the south-western corner of the dungeon, led by her elven intuition. There, employing both her combat and magical prowess, she slew multiple opponents, only being wounded when she triggered a trap in an attempt to find treasure. Behind a secret portal, however, she uncovered both an orc and an abomination guarding a door behind which she knew Sir Ragnar was likely being held. She made short work of the orc, but the abomination proved too powerful and, having inflicted only a single wound on the beast, Asha was forced to flee, calling to Thorgal for assistance. As chance would have it, Thorgal, who had eventually been joined by Jaegar the barbarian, had just finished slaying the last monsters in the north-eastern chambers, and although he was eager to open a chest he had found there, he did not hesitate to respond to Asha's calls, begrudgingly leaving the loot for the severely wounded barbarian to claim. Asha passed Thorgal in a corridor, the Abomination pursuing close behind, and the dwarf met the beast in combat, still enchanted by the wizard's "Rock Skin" spell, not having received even a single wound upon his bloody trail.
But whereas Thorgal had previously watched Jaegar falter against every opponent that he had encountered, his broadsword seemingly incapable of striking true, it seemed that the fickle gods had now turned their backs on him, for try as he might, he could not deliver a killing blow to the abomination. The beast, however, quickly wounded him, causing the wizard's enchantment to finally dissipate. Back and forth the two of them fought, Thorgal's companions too wounded to risk venturing near for fear that the abomination would turn its attention upon them. While Thorgal was certain that his companions were not deliberately leaving him to fend for himself as punishment for his greed the previous week, he was not so certain that the gods were not so doing. Nonetheless, Thorgal's weapon finally found a spot in his opponent's flesh, and the abomination fell slain at last. With great haste Asha the elf returned to the secret chamber that she had uncovered, and behind the locked door within, she found Sir Ragnar. He was greatly sapped of strength, having endured much torture, but was still capable of walking unaided.
And so it was that Dread's Bane escaped from the dungeon with Sir Ragnar, receiving 240 gold as a reward for the rescue. Perhaps the greatest reward, however, was the humbling that each of the heroes received. They had grown overconfident after their victory over Verag, and that overconfidence had brought three of them to the brink of death. After the adventure, Caledor the wizard bought himself a staff, hoping that he might use it to contribute to his companion's fighting efforts more intelligently than he had attempted during the rescue of Sir Ragnar.
